Chapter 218
When faced with extreme surprise and panic, it is rather natural to lose all sense of thought.
Un Hyang was exactly in that state now.
She faced the worst situation she had ever imagined.
The Heavenly Demon.
He had personally come to find her.
No matter how great a master of formation one might be, the opponent was the Heavenly Demon. If it had been Un Cheon-guk, it might have been different, but a mere formation couldn’t stop him.
“The Heavenly Demon’s Soul and the martial artist are one. If I fear myself, I will never be able to progress.”
At Jin Hwaryung’s words, Un Hyang stood up with difficulty, clutching her sword.
No matter how frightened she was, she couldn’t just sit down and do nothing.
“Why are you here?”
“Have you made up your mind?”
“Did you come to teach me? Or are you here to take me away this time?”
“Your biggest obstacle is still that soft and sentimental heart of yours. That’s not in your nature.”
“What’s that supposed to-”
Jin Hwaryung didn’t answer her question. This was not a normal conversation.
Un Hyang took a deep breath.
She must not lose her composure. She must not be afraid.
Gathering her thoughts, Un Hyang faced Jin Hwaryung squarely.
“No one can touch anyone here.”
A situation she wouldn’t have imagined recently. To think she would stare into the Heavenly Demon’s eyes and say such a thing.
Her heart pounded wildly, as if screaming at her, asking what she was doing.
In the past, her heart would have overwhelmed her.
But today was different.
‘I have to fight.’
Where did this strength come from?
Perhaps it was because of the people sleeping in this place at this very moment.
*Grip-*
Jin Hwaryung’s gaze moved to Un Hyang’s hand grasping the sword.
“Do you intend to fight?”
*Step-*
Jin Hwaryung took a step forward.
“In that shape?”
*Swoosh-*
The formless fear took on a tangible shape in front of her eyes. The ghostly figures behind Jin Hwaryung transformed into hundreds of forms in an instant.
And more terrifying than those countless specters was Jin Hwaryung himself.
Her hand holding the sword trembled.
Fight against that?
-You can fight.
It whispered again.
-If you are with me.
Clenching her lips once more, the pain helped her gather her scattered thoughts.
That’s right.
Let’s do it.
The moment determination settled in her eyes.
“Well developed.”
*Swish-*
The hundreds of ghosts vanished, and the suffocating aura disappeared in an instant.
As the atmosphere abruptly shifted, Jin Hwaryung spoke.
“I didn’t come for you.”
“I have no interest in something incomplete.”
“Then?”
No interest?
For a fleeting moment, an unsettling thought crossed her mind.
Behind Jin Hwaryung.
Suhyuk, who should have been asleep, was walking toward them.
“Suhyuk…-nim?”
Jin Hwaryung’s purpose here was not her.
Just like last time, he had come to see Suhyuk.
She had assumed he had come because of the fall of the Divine Dragon Group, but…
“I knew you would come.”
As if waiting, Suhyuk looked directly at Jin Hwaryung.
“The landlord is sleeping. Shall we talk outside?”
Although he asked, Suhyuk didn’t wait for a response. Turning his body as if telling Jin Hwaryung to follow, Suhyuk started to walk outside, and Jin Hwaryung followed.
Left alone in the place, Un Hyang’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
“He really didn’t come for me?”
She had considered that the Heavenly Demon might come for her. He had, indeed, appeared before her eyes.
But she hadn’t thought his purpose would be Lee Suhyuk.
He genuinely seemed to have no interest in her. Similarly, Suhyuk appeared to have been aware that Jin Hwaryung would come.
‘Why?’
Lee Suhyuk distanced himself as much as possible from where Jinwoon was.
He worried about what kind of reaction Jinwoon might have if he discovered that Jin Hwaryung was here.
‘Seems like he doesn’t care.’
Although he said that, Suhyuk had doubts.
If Jin Hwaryung had come here because of Jinwoon, there would currently be no way to stop him.
*Step-.*
The footsteps of Jin Hwaryung, who had been following him, stopped.
Suhyuk turned his body to look at Jin Hwaryung, who seemed to have no intention of following him further.
“What are you doing here?”
Jin Hwaryung asked.
“Surely you’re not scared, right?”
Fear.
Hearing that word alone was enough for Suhyuk to realize that Jin Hwaryung knew about his presence.
“What if I am scared?”
“The you I know isn’t scared of such things.”
“We first met at the Counter-Fight, didn’t we? How do you know me so well?”
“Don’t act like a fake. You are Lee Suhyuk.”
But Jin Hwaryung was not deceived.
He had already come to find Suhyuk with certainty.
Seeing Jin Hwaryung’s stubborn demeanor, Suhyuk wondered if he had attracted trouble by fighting him at the Counter-Fight. Who knew he would be so certain just from one fight?
Until now, only one person had looked at him and seen through to his soul.
“You… are Suhyuk.”
Hwang Gyuseong.
He recognized Suhyuk.
‘Is it because they originally knew me?’
No, that couldn’t be it. If that were the case, Hailz would have recognized him too.
Although he suspected and unmasked himself, Hailz never fully confirmed his identity.
It wasn’t just that.
Many of the rankers he saw at the Counter-Fight were people he had encountered in his past life.
However, only two people recognized him. Hwang Gyuseong and Jin Hwaryung.
Perhaps it was due to intuition or the difference in their levels.
Faced with Jin Hwaryung’s near-certainty, Suhyuk eventually gave up on deceiving him.
“I was looking for a way.”
To answer Jin Hwaryung’s question about what he was doing here.
“A way to defeat this guy.”
*Crackle-.*
As he said that, Suhyuk sparked lightning at his fingertip.
Jin Hwaryung’s eyes narrowed at Suhyuk’s answer.
“A way?”
“I don’t lose to anyone. Except for this guy.”
Lightning always defeated him. That was what Suhyuk had said at their first meeting.
“So I must keep fighting. Against this guy.”
“You really are Lee Suhyuk.”
“You were the one certain first. When did you become so sure?”
“From the moment you targeted me.”
“It was indeed a pointless action.”
He said so but wasn’t particularly worried.
The Heavenly Demon was an enemy of the world. He had no allies, nor anyone who would become his enemy.
A man with no affiliations or understanding with anyone.
Therefore, the secret of the Heavenly Demon could not be revealed easily.
“Did you lose all your strength?”
At Jin Hwaryung’s question, Suhyuk nodded.
“For now.”
There was no need to elaborate that he had died. Even he had no way to explain it.
To Jin Hwaryung, it wasn’t about living or dying. It was about losing power. That was the only thing important to him.
“Then you can’t kill me either.”
“No.”
Suhyuk’s eyes gleamed.
“This time, I can.”
“With such petty skills?”
Jin Hwaryung glanced over the formation set up around them. Though it was Jinwoon’s formation, to him, it was nothing but a trivial skill.
Nevertheless, Suhyuk nodded.
Of course, it wasn’t just that.
“This is part of it.”
Much had changed since then.
Although he reached the same level, he was far stronger in his previous life. But Suhyuk was certain.
Because he had failed once, he could walk the right path this time.
“I promise you too. This time, I will kill you.”
Jinwoon and the Heavenly Demon.
Suhyuk made the same promise to both.
“So, until then, hold on tightly.”
“Fine.”
A sneer crept onto Jin Hwaryung’s lips.
It was a smile that seemed to say, “You think you can?!”
Lee Suhyuk furrowed his brow.
Yet, Suhyuk understood. Jin Hwaryung had purposefully come all the way here to hear these words.
At that moment, Suhyuk noticed the wound on Jin Hwaryung.
“Did your younger brother do that to you?”
Jin Doha.
Though it was hard to believe just by looking at his face, he was indeed Jin Hwaryung’s younger brother.
The two siblings walked entirely opposite paths—one becoming the Heavenly Demon, while the other became the leader of the Murim Alliance.
“It wasn’t just him.”
“Then who?”
“Guardian.”
“Guardian?”
Suhyuk’s eyes widened.
Guardian—the protectors stationed in front of the trial paths to the next floor.
Suhyuk, known as the Legend of Blue Eyes, had continuously fought them. Ultimately, Hydra, who had led to Suhyuk’s death, had been a Guardian of the eighth floor.
Currently, the tower had failed to conquer the Guardian of the ninth floor.
“Did you challenge it?”
“Yes.”
“Alone, by any chance?”
Jin Hwaryung nodded.
It was absurd. Even Hydra, the boss of the eighth floor, had been deemed challenging by Blue Eyes alone.
Guardians were designed to be defeated by a group, not an individual.
“Indeed, it’s hard to do alone.”
Suhyuk realized that Jin Hwaryung was crazier than he had thought.
When he first saw Hwaryung’s wounds, Suhyuk had considered who could inflict such damage. Among those were the Three Demon Kings that Hwang Gyuseong had mentioned.
But to think it would be someone more significant than them.
“Before you kill me, you need to catch him first.”
“What do you truly desire?”
Suhyuk became curious about Hwaryung’s intentions, given his challenge to the Guardian.
“Is it death or life you seek?”
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had such a conversation with Hwaryung.
He had often fought against the Heavenly Demon. During every Counter-Fight, he had battled him, and the first time he defeated him, Suhyuk had earned the title of the strongest.
But in that process, Suhyuk had never been able to kill the Heavenly Demon.
Suhyuk could defeat Jin Hwaryung but not kill the Heavenly Demon.
“I don’t know.”
Hwaryung did not give a clear answer to Suhyuk’s either-or question.
“For now, capturing the Guardian would be my immediate goal.”
“Why not let the Guardian kill you, then?”
“That’s impossible. Even if it were possible, now is not the time.”
Shaking his head, Jin Hwaryung emphasized again, “not now.”
It was quite an unfamiliar sight.
A man who had sought death, now discarding that desire to capture a Guardian.
‘Why is he so obsessed?’
The reason for conquering a Guardian was singular.
To conquer the tower and ascend higher.
And for that cause, there could be only one reason.
“Could it be that that day is approaching?”
What was destined to start someday.
The deeply rooted fear in every player’s heart about that very day.
This fear was particularly intense for players at higher levels.
“It might be closer than we think.”
“Have you met the Three Demon Kings too?”
To Suhyuk’s question, Hwaryung nodded.
“See for yourself.”
He did not give a direct hint.
Both Hwang Gyuseong and Jin Hwaryung had said the same thing—to confirm it for himself.
‘I have met a Demon King.’
Suhyuk had once encountered one of them.
It was a brief encounter. Nonetheless, the fear he had felt then still lingered.
“And I met your friends.”
Suhyuk’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Shiwoo and Yerang?”
“I think those were their names.”
“Where? What are they doing now?”
He knew they were alive. Still, he had no idea where they were or what they were doing.
“I don’t know where they are. I don’t know what they’re doing, but I know what they intend to do.”
Jin Hwaryung sneered at the foolishness of Shiwoo and Yerang’s request for his help, knowing he would refuse.
But it was amusing.
“They asked for my help, but instead, it seems you should be the one to help them.”
That seemingly foolish act might have been destined for this purpose.